Shoulders

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Health How to manage shoulder arthritis Our shoulders are among the most active joints in our bodies, and arthritis in one or both can seriously impact mobility and quality of life. However, there are ways to successfully manage it, as two experts explain Words: Claire lavelle Osteoarthritis in the shoulder may be less common than in the hip or the knee because it’s not a weight- bearing joint, but it does occur, especially in those who’ve played a lot of sports that involve these joints. ‘Typically, these would include throwing events such as javelin, and even swimmers can be prone to this kind of damage,’ says registered osteopath Pierre Meslet, director of physiosteo.co.uk and a member of UK-based healthcare collective iamYam.co.uk. ‘Symptoms are pain on movement, a “crunchy” feeling in the joint, and tightness and pain during the night or when resting because the joint is inflamed. Raising the arm above 90 degrees is also likely to cause pain.’ Treatment of arthritis in these joints includes ‘passive articulation’, What about surgery? or mobilising the joints through as full a movement as possible without engaging the surrounding muscle (rotator cuff). ‘It’s the joint we want to work, not the muscle,’ says Pierre. ‘The aim is to increase the production of the synovial fluid around it, which works to keep it lubricated and is essential to its performance and health.’ It may feel counter-intuitive if you’re in real discomfort, but, says Pierre, while rest is OK for a couple of days when the pain is acute, the last thing we want for a joint with arthritis is for it to be sedentary and immobile. ‘Use ice packs for inflammation or heat pads to relieve pain,’ he advises. ‘Over-the-counter [OTC] remedies can give some pain relief. ‘Physiotherapy can help to strengthen the muscles surrounding the joint,’ he adds. ‘And taping the area with kinesiology tape, which is a popular technique with athletes, is very effective. It allows some mobility in the joint while supporting so no further damage is done.’ range of ‘OTC painkillers and steroid injections to reduce inflammation can help to manage the pain, but if the shoulder joint has well- established arthritis and movement is very limited, surgery may be the final option,’ says consultant orthopaedic surgeon and arthritis care expert Manoj Sood. ‘Shoulder replacement surgery is becoming more common as the technology improves, and can involve a half replacement (hemiarthroplasty), full replacement (arthroplasty) or resurfacing, whereby just the damaged bone is replaced with a metallic head. This leaves much of the patient’s own bone intact. ‘As with any joint replacement, full recovery takes months, but pain stops almost immediately. You can begin physiotherapy after a week and expect to drive again within eight to nine weeks.’